SAILING: ABN Amro One, skippered by Mike Sanderson, won the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race yesterd.

The team reached Cape Town after 6,400 nautical miles and 19 days, 24 minutes and two seconds at sea to lead the race by a single point.

"It's unbelievable to be here," said New Zealander Sanderson after the first of nine legs. "Before we started we were told by our designer, Juan Kouyoumdjian, that we would average 16 knots on this leg and we all laughed. We have averaged 15.95 knots and put in nearly 400 miles almost every day of this leg."

Sanderson is a first-time skipper on this event.